Sod plow



Oct. 29, 1929.

E. J. KLEPPE 1,733,737

SOD PLOW Filed April ll 192,7 4 Sheets-Sheet l \g IN VEN TOR.

I 1 ATTbRNEY.

Oct. 29, 1929. I J. KLEPPE 1,733,737

SOD PLOW Filed April 11, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEZIVTOR, 1 A? IZZGp ILOct. 29, 1929.

E. J. KLEPPE 1,733,737

SOD PLOW Filed April 11, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 29, 1929. J, KLEPPEY 1,733,737

SOD PLOW Filed April 11, 1927 4 Sheets$heet 4 o fi INVENTOR.

TJI/FZe oe,

Patented Oct. 29, 1929 UNITED STATES omc- I -EBNES'1" 3'. ilKI-EPPE,'OF- RENO,L NEVADA son now Application filed April 11, 1927. Serial no;"182,680.

This invention'relates to a sod plow, and its object is to produce agang plow for cut ting sod which will, enable the sod to be trimmed veryclosely, not more than an inch 5 or two over the entire ground tobeplowed so that the groundcan be broken up and worked the sameseasonfth'at ,it'is first out.

'It Will" be understood-by l those familiar with thebreaking of sodd'edland, that where 110 a plow sufficiently: strong and heavy to'cuttheentire sod'to the 3 depth of the roots is used, thatthe resultantsodis very hardto "dojanythingwith, and it requires a season or two intheopen'before it is possible to break the sod up so that a crop' can beraisedon the p'lowed ground, but with the present plow aseriesof smallplows are used and a heavy frame is used,- which frame can be held atagiven elevation so'thatthe plows will throw outtheirentire furrow'cutonly about an inchand a' ;half'-or two inches deep, and thereby giveasod which can be quite readily broken by disking or other' harrowingoperations. I

" *Another object of the invention is to provide a support for the"series ofgang plows 'which'will be raised as nearly parallel with thesurfa'ceof the ground as possible, and thereby *will not cause theplowsto dig in 0 on the point or to ride "on the heel owing to beingraised-or lowered in a horizontal as to the cutting edge of theplowshares.

In'the'present plow the plows are rigidly secured to an upper frame, andthe wheels are s'ecured to a lower frame. 'A suitably heavy lever isthen used to vary the distance between these 'two' frames, which" framesare connected by a series; of heavy -'links,'andin this way the plowcarrying frame is raised andilowered practically fromonefhorizontallane-to another horizontal plane with the result r'that' the 'plows oan"be heldivery accurately ,ajgiven depth, the wheels and uppenframedetermining the depth of furrow iforze'ach'plow. I

nItIis-tobe noted that-while this particular frame Pisvintended to?support the plows of 'theii-ordi nary gang 'ty -pe, although usually aivory much smaller i-plow "inorder; to 1 cut the sodl intoismallapieces, i that the frame oan [drawings and of which there may bemodifications.

Figure 1 is aside elevation of the'plow frame with two of thereartwheels removed for purpose of illustration, showing the plows 4just out of the ground,

l igure' Qis a planview ofjthe complete machine-with the plows left offfor the purpose of illustration.

ing lever,

Figure 4 1s a view of one ofthe upper beamsof the frame showingltheplows attachedthereto and illustratingthe means for the adjustmentfor the position of the plows as they are operated in turning a furrow,

Figure 5is a side elevation of aplow frame f with a still furthermodified form of operatinglever for raising and lowering the plowframes, the lever being extended to provide for the operation of' theplow from the seat ofthe tractorwhich pullsthe plow, thecultivator framebeing shownindotted lines,

Figure dis a front elevationof one form of cultivator plow that is usedwith this frame when the ordinary cutting plow shown in Figure lisnotused, and I Figure 71s a -st1l1"furthermodified form of cultivator toothused in connection with the plow.

-'. The plows are "somewhat smallerthanthose j ordinarily used on gangp'lo'ws'; but are substantiallysimilar to theordinary share and I moldboard plow there bein ix'of them 'in 1 the presentcase, indicated bythenumerals 1 to 6' inclusive. Each plow-is carried by a depending post, asindicated at 7 to l2,-ea ch of which; posts is secured to iitscorresponding hor zontal heam 'asshownin plan view'in Fig- 3;is asideelevation of the com- 70 plete machine showing one form of .operat-' ure2, there being six beams to correspond with the plows, as indicated at13 to 18 inclusive. The front and rear ends of these beams are bent atan angle to the beams as indicated at 19 and 20 on each beam, and theseveral beams are then bolted to the two cross bars 21 and 22, whichform a rectangular frame for the support of all of the plows.

In order to provide for the sufhcient separation of the plowslongitudinally with respect to each other, the back end of the upperframe consists of three members 19,20 and 21. The latter member beingbolted alongside the member 18 with the bolt 22, 23 and 24 and havingits rear end bent around to form the member 20, and then bent laterallyas indicated at 25 to be bolted to the plate 21. The plate 19 has oneportion bent laterally and then bent to lie parallel to the plate 20 asindicated at 26, and the front end of the plate 19 is bent laterally asind'cated to be bolted to the back of the plate 21.

The upper frame is pivotally connected to five short links 30 to 34inclusive, which links are also pivotally connected to the lower frame.The lower frame consists of two members 35 and 36, which are bent towardeach other at the front end as indicated at 3C", 38 and then the twoends are bolted together as indicated at 39 Figure 2 to form a bar towhich is connected the'drawbar 40 for connecting the plow frame to thetractor. The draw bar 40 has a clevis 41 at its front end to receive thepin for connecting it to the tractor. Atthe rear end there is a crossbar 42 which has its ends bent at right angles to the main part of thebar and bolted to the rear ends of the bars 35 and 36. t

The main frame of the plow is supported by the axle 43 at the rear end,and the wheels 44 and 45, while at the front end it is supported by theaxle 46 which turns on the vertical caster pin 47. The front axle is inturn sup ported by the wheels 48, 49. Connected to the front end of thelower frame is a curved bar 55., which is held in its proper place bymeans of the braces 56 and 57 which are extended to both sides of themembers .39.

Pivotally connected at 58 to the lower frame is along operating lever 59which lever is passed through a yoke 60, and which has a retaining plate61 to hold it engaged with the curved plate 55, theobject being toenable the plow'frames to be raised or lowered atwill.

In order to provide for holding the two frames of the plow in any givenadjustment, the pin 62 is provided, which pin passes through a hole inthe lever 59 and through various holes of the curved supporting plate55. This pin is pivotally connected to an arm 63 which in turn is apartof the arm 64 pivotally mounted on the side of the lever 55. The arm64 is in turn pivotally connected to a rod 65 which is pivotallyconnected to the handle 66 pivotally mounted on the front end of thelever 59 as indicated at 67. A. spring 68 holds the pin 62 normally inthe opening of the plate 55 to which it has been connected.

The result of this construction is that it places the operating leverwithin reach of the man who is usually mounted on the rear end of thetractor.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the plows are liftedstraight up and straight down without a chan e in the lower framedistance from the ground, and as the frame itself is made of heavy steelbars the entire structure of the plow is so heavy that it is very easyto keep the plows cutting the precise depth required without cutting toodeep and withoutrunning over the top of the sod.

In order to provide against danger of breakage the post which carrieseach individual plow as indicated in Figure 4 is provided with aforwardly projecting extension 121l in each instance, and these postsare pivotally mounted on suitably heavy bolts, as indicated at 1112,while another boltll and 12 connects the forward ends of the members1112 with the plow beams 21 and 20 respectively. The result of thisconstruction is that the plow posts are held in their usual positionmerely by friction, and if there is too heavy a load brought to bearupon the plow the result will be that the plow will either break off oneof the bolts, or slip to such an extent as to permit the obstruction tobe passed without danger of injuring the plow post or the plow structureseriously.

Where the plow is to be pulled by a team of horses the form of adjustingmechanism shown in Figure 3 is used. In this figure the post '70provides a support for a seat 71 from the front end of which a plate 72extends. This plate has a series of holes to receive a pin passedthrough the lever 7 3, said lever being connected to the axle 43 at itslower end and passing through a stirrup 74 on an upwardly extending post75 connected to the transverse frame member 21. In this plow theremaining part of the frame is substantiallythe same as the frame shownin Figures 1 and 2a11d carries the same numerals except that at thefront end there is a very short clevis76 for connecting the plow frameto the apparatus for allowing horse pullage of the plow. At the front ofthe lower frame there are two posts 81, 82 one of which is provided withi a brace 83, and both of which are connected together by means of theplate 84. A lever 85 is pivotally connected to thetop of the post 81 and86, and it moves along the curved top 87 of the post 82, a suitable pinbeing used to secure it in any one of several different adjustments. Atthe rear end the lever 85 is pivotally connectedby means of a pin 88 tothe front end of the main plow frame adjusting lever 89, said leverbeing connected to the lower frame at 90 and passing slidably throughthe yoke 91 which is suitably bolted to the transverse bar 21 of the topplow frame.

While this plow is intended for a particular type of heavy sod plowing,it is possible to use it purely as a cultivatorand when so used all ofthe plows are removed therefrom and a frame shown in Figure 7 whichcarries a plurality of cultivator teeth is substituted in the place ofthe plows. This frame is merely laid across the top of the top frame andbolted thereto. This frame consists of a series of cross bars 92 to eachof which the de pending posts 93 and cultivator shuttles 9'4 aresecured. The relation of several of these bars to the other bars oftheset is illustrated in Figure 7 in which there are three of the:

cross bars 95, 96 and 97 with a plurality of the depending posts 98 andcultivator shovels 99 secured thereto, all of the bars being connectedtogether by an end bar 100 at each end. Any suitable bolts may be usedfor securing this frame to the top frame 13.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is as follows, but modifications may be madein carrying out the invention as shown in the drawings and in the aboveparticularly described form thereof, within the purview of the annexedclaim.

A sod plow of the class described comprising a rectangular frame, wheelsconnected avith said frame at the rear to hold it at a fixed positionfrom the ground, castor wheels at the front of said frame to support it,a plow frame above the wheeled frame, links for connecting the plowframe to the wheeled frame and to allow it to be raised by backwardtilting or lowered by forward tilting always parallel to the wheeledframe, a series of plows connectedto the plow frame, and extending belowthe wheeled frame, a lever pivotally connected to the rearaxle, a yokeconnected to the plow frame, and with which the said lever is slidablyconnected to raise or lower the plow frame, and means to hold said leverin any one of a plurality of adjustments as may be desired.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 22nd day of March,A. D. 1927.

ERNEST J. KLEPPE.

